…there’s a new one.
And we were drawn into the rhythm of the sea.
June 1, 2010 by
Portion of Journal Entry from May 27, 2010:
…There were beautiful solo driving moments on this segment of highway, headed North through the leaping green of Humboldt County and up into the timber of Oregon. On one bend in the road, with the sun to my back, I swept smoothly around a curve, rushed along the flank of a painted white dot asphalt spine, and directly into a heavy sheet of rain. I felt the truck hesitate under the weight of the weather and then stumble onward. Blindly. I could feel the slow thickness of rubber on wet road through the steering wheel and the fortress of forest around me seemed to bow down so calmly in the rage of the moment…
My Verve Spilleth Over
April 28, 2010 by
It’s true.
My verve spilleth over.
My pensiveness hath evaporatethed. Somewhat.
My pesky displaced ribs are feeling miraculously better after a trip to the chiropractor and hours upon hours of tempering wretched muscles with ice packs yesterday and today. I say, one never realizes how important breathing is until every breath pokes a wonky rib into a lung.
I’ve been enameling and constructing for most of the day.
I plan to work late.
The view from the studio is grand, it’s snowing on the West Bench. Low clouds are threatening to drop down into the valley
and water the herb garden I planted yesterday.
Wait.
It’s eerily calm. The gale force winds have suddenly ceased. Perhaps I’ve slipped into the eye of the storm.
Do you ever imagine your house and the land that surrounds it by a mile square is actually up in the air rotating like a vinyl record? I’m performing this very imagination as I type this. For a second, it gave some sort of pseudo logical reason for the calmness outside.
This is a necklace I finished today. It’s an extension of the Rumors of the Sea Series and features an orange peel fired and repoussed copper disc, prong set, as well as a little pearl. There are plenty of details to share about this necklace and I promise to do so in the Etsy listing, when the time comes! I find it rather captivating. Plus, that Scandinavian blue is one of my favorite colors. What a shock! I know. Most people love green best of all. I’m rabid for pretty paraphernalia in hues of cerulean.
And oh dear goodness gosh.
Let’s talk about this little necklace.
It’s the first in a seed series!
I’ve taken a sterling, repoussed disc and fired it with translucent enamel — it’s supposed to be a seed. The necklace is stylistically a drop choker so hanging down from the seed is a repoussed, anticlastically raised and enameled sterling leaf.
So pretty. So lifelike, in some manners.
So organic.
Both enameled components look practically edible. J’adore this piece. How could I not? The colors are bombastic. I’ve three more necklaces in similar design on deck for completion this week and I’m going to be thrilled to show you the other finished products. It’s rather obvious that I’ve been taking more cues than usual from nature these past few weeks. The things I find beautiful and inspiring have been blowing huge and fragrant puffs of springtime wind into everything I touch, write, sketch and construct.
The possibilities are so endless that I’m often overwhelmed by the creative options in my mind.
I’m sure that many of you can relate.
In other news, I’m on the hunt for a Little Red Riding Hood cape.
Send me thine linketh if you knoweth of one!
I am hoping you all had a most glorious Tuesday!
I’ll bet you’re growing tulips between your toes.
Rah rah springtime!
We love you so!
xx
PLUME
Offerings
April 9, 2010 by
For your consideration:
Rumors of the Sea Ring
[copper, enamel, sterling, pearls]
Fortress Ring
[sterling, moonstone, amethyst, chrysoprase, ravenwing pearl, ivory pearl]
Rumors of the Sea Ring
[copper, sterling, enamel, pearl]
[tube agate & sterling]
Fox in the Snow Necklace
[sterling & amethyst druzy]
Limu Ring
[sterling & red jade]
Glitz Ring
[sterling & bartlett jasper — mined in Idaho and cut by a local lapidary artist in Pocatello]
[sterling & pearl with custom chain]
[sterling & agate]
Throat Flower Lexical Charm Necklace
[sterling, pearl & coral]
You know, to be quite honest, I am really struggling with letting
one or ANY of these pieces go today. It’s ridiculous. I’ve had them in my home for a handful of weeks now and I should feel like I’ve bonded with them sufficiently (I do that, you know, I bond with these pieces when they are finished…I put them on and sometimes wear them for a few hours at a time so that when the moment comes, I’ll feel like I can let them go…). But not today. I’m feeling a little of heartache, at the minute, when I think of listing them all for sale.
I love each one of these pieces.
Each one.
They’re a part of me.
Thank you, eternally and exponentially, for your consideration, for looking at these photos and enjoying the aesthetic of these designs, for reading what I write and for supporting me as an independent artist.
These are my offerings.
Love,
PLUME
:::EDIT:::
THANK YOU!!!
MOST OF THESE PIECES HAVE FOUND WONDERFUL HOMES!
HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND, ONE AND ALL!
xxxxxxxxx
Springtime Sighing All Along The Creek
March 19, 2010 by
Some weeks are good weeks.Some weeks are great weeks.This was a great week.It must be spring.
Bald eagle's back in the cottonwood treeThe old brown hills are just about bareSpringtime sighing all along the creekMagpies ganging up everywhere...[Ian Tyson]
I don't think I've ever appreciated daylight savings quite so much! The extra daylight in the lateafternoon has been a joyful shot in the arm for me. I'm finding the time to do everything I want to do.Winter tends to feel like a constant crush for time and daylight. Do you feel that way?I'm glad for the new season, it's almost upon us, you know. When Saturday clicks over into Sundayour hearts are going to perform a vernal stampede. The magpies will drop their gold and fly over to our outstretched hands as we stroll about commenting on how everything is coming up tulippy.
Even the naked lilacs will grinin the breeze, thinking about the purple and white poofs to come.Springtime really is sighing all along the creek.
You know, spring really is a mild mannered seductress. She makes you forget all about the thingsthat need doing -- taxes, chores, running a small business.She makes you go climbing with Sue in the afternoons.She makes you run four extra miles just because the sun feels so burly.She makes you whip up pots of iced tea.She's oblivious and makes you oblivious to your responsibilities.But I say, after a long, dark winter, we're all allowed to lose our sensibilities for a stint.It's only fair.It's only balanced.
Back to the stuff. I was highly distracted, all week long, but I managed to finish up a handful of projectsyesterday afternoon before I closed my studio up and took to the hills:
I made a new Saddle Ring. Well, two of them actually. One is mine, one is yours. There’s something so sweet and strong about this piece. It’s incredibly organic to the touch and to the sight. The main body of the ring is actually anticlastically raised making it beautifully tactile and very appealing to the sight. It catches the light in all the right places. Feminine details detract from the bulk of this piece — a fresh water pearl and the faint face of a poppy on the surface of the silver make this ring so delicate for the wearing. This ring is a larger size. I believe it’s around a US ring size 9.75 or 10. Perfect for a pointer finger which is where I have been wearing and loving my Saddle Ring.
A new set of Isadora Earrings for a woman who is cuckoo for teal. I haven’t anything but the very best adjectives in mind when describing these earrings. They are romantic, dark, light, a force of nature, tarnationally organic (NO. TARNATIONALLY IS NOT A REAL WORD.), musical in their movement and somewhat bold. They are quite long and the shank that the stone is connected to is beautifully bound up in sterling ribbon which is so romantic and Swan Lake and ballerinas.
I finally made a Rumors of the Sea Ring. I’ve talked at length about this series in the past so I won’t bore you here but I will make mention of the fact that this piece DOES have a freshwater pearl set inside the enameled dome. Also, all of my enameled pieces are fired multiple times and counter enameled for strength and durability. Gosh. I love this ring and this series. I may never grow tired of it.
Lastly I made a Raven Necklace. I know. You thought I made it through, free and clear of my raven obsession. Nope. Here’s another one! This beauty is built of sterling, 14 karat gold, fresh water pearl and ocean jasper. The pendant actually drops off an incredibly long, hand fabricated sterling bone that I’ve wrapped with sterling ribbon. I’ve balanced the asymmetrical nature of this piece using ocean jasper and leaf which makes for a lovely amount of independent movement within the structure of the pendant. There are so many details to this piece that I’m not sure what else to share with you. Look at the photos! I wanted this pendant to look like a specimen box, of sorts.
On the backside of the pendant is the Latin name for the common raven: CORVUS CORAX
And I’d consider this piece to be part of my Cabinet of Curiosities Series. It’s a bit creepy, a little bit dark, a little bit E.A. Poe (nevermore nevermore) and soooo unique. I really love this design. It feels great on. Musical and heavy.
RW and I have a shocking amount of packing and shipping to do which will probably carry
over into Saturday. If you don’t see them for sale today you’ll be able to find this new work up for claiming on Monday!
I hope you are all having a beautiful, Turkishly Delightful
Friday. I want to hop in Talulah and drive up the side of a mountain
with a cup of mint tea and a book about the American Buffalo
but I’m going to work instead.
Because I kind of need to.
Love to you all!
xxxxxxxxx
THE NOISY PLUME